November 18, 2006

Tech Industry Wants Increase in H-1B Visas

Who comes up with the names for these industry groups? The "Compete America" coalition is asking Congress for an increase in the number of H-1B Visas, allowing them to import more foreign workers, primarily in the IT sector.

A coalition of business and education groups is making a renewed push to persuade Congress to raise the number of skilled foreign workers allowed into the United States this year.

The coalition, which calls itself Compete America and whose members are drawn heavily from the technology industry, sent a letter to every member of Congress on Monday calling for an increase in both the number of so-called H-1B visas, which are used by skilled immigrants and the number of employment-based green cards given to foreign workers. - NY Times

While the companies are required to pay foreign wokers the prevailing wage, the practice tends to depress wages overall.

“We think that before raising the H-1B cap there should be reform of the H-1B system,” said Ronil Hira, vice president for career activities at IEEE-USA, a professional organization representing engineers and computer programmers.

The organization, which includes many immigrants among its ranks, is not opposed to legal immigration. But Mr. Hira said that the H-1B visa program, which requires companies to pay foreign workers wages comparable to those they pay American workers, was riddled with loopholes that allow employers to pay subpar wages to immigrants. That, in turn, depresses the wages of American workers, Mr. Hira said.

Zazona.com provides a database allowing you to search which companies are hiring foreign workers and what jobs they are taking, at what salary.

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Economists Are Destroying America
Economists, politicians, and executives from both parties have promised American families that “free” trade policies like NAFTA, CAFTA, and WTO/CHINA would accomplish three things:

Well, their trade policies have been in effect for about 15 years. Let’s review the results:

• Declining real wages for 80% of working Americans (while healthcare, education, and childcare costs skyrocket)
• A record-high 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance (due in part to declining wages and benefits)
• Illegal immigration out of control
• Soaring trade deficits, much with countries that use slave and child labor
• Personal and national debt both out-of-control
• Global environments threatened by lax trade deal enforcement

Even those economists who acknowledge problems with trade agreements offer us only half-measures—adjusting exchange rates, improving safety nets, and providing better job retraining. None of these will close the wage gap in America—and economists know it.

Why Aren’t American Economists Shouting From Street Corners?

America needs trade deals that support American families and businesses in terms of wage, environmental, and intellectual property abuses. Why aren’t economists demanding renegotiation of our trade deals? There are three primary reasons:

• Economists are too beholden to corporations and special interests that provide them with research grants.
• Economists believe—but refuse to admit—that sacrificing the American middle class is necessary and appropriate to generate gains in third world economies.
• Economists refuse to admit they make mistakes.

Economic Ambulance Chasers

Now more than ever, Americans need their economists to speak truth and stand up to their big business clients. Instead, economists sound like lawyers caught chasing ambulances: they claim they’re “doing it for our benefit”.